Hong Kong Philharmonic Announces New Music Director 

Conductor Tarmo Peltokoski will assume the role as of the 2026/27 concert season

 

As announced by the Board of Governors of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil), the 24-year-old Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski will hold the Music Director role for a four-year term, after serving as Music Director Designate during the 2025/26 season.  

He will succeed Jaap van Zweden in the role becoming HK Phil’s ninth Music Director. Peltokoski made his debut with the HK Phil at its 2022/23 Season Finale concert in June 2023 and is now set to conduct the sold-out concerts of HK Phil’s 2023/24 Season Finale, as well as the 2024/25 Season Opening.

The recent contract signing ceremony at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall was attended by HK Phil’s Board of Governors; orchestra musicians; and James Tong, Director, Group Public Affairs of John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Limited, which represents the Principal Patron of the HK Phil.

Currently, Peltokoski is Music Director Designate of the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse in the 2024/25 season and will begin the official role as of the 2025/26 season. 

In 2022, he was the first conductor to be appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen in its 42-year history. 

He also started as Music and Artistic Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra in the 2022/23 season, plus was named Principal Guest Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

In spring 2025, he will tour Germany with Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and make debuts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, and Japan’s NHK Symphony.  

A graduate of the Sibelius Academy, Peltokoski has studied with Jorma Panula and Sakari Oramo, Hannu Lintu, Jukka-Pekka Saraste and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

“I am delighted to welcome Maestro Peltokoski as the next Music Director of the HK Phil,” said HK Phil’s Chair of the Board and Music Director Search Committee David Cogman in the press release. “He is a remarkable and visionary musician, and we are very fortunate that he will write the next chapter in our orchestra’s history. The Board of Governors is tremendously excited by the orchestra’s future under the leadership of such an outstanding conductor.”

“I am honored and thrilled to be named Music Director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra,” Peltokoski said. “After being highly impressed by the orchestra last year, I knew this would be a long-lasting relationship. The HK Phil is surely one of the absolute top orchestras in Asia. I am very much looking forward to lots of inspiring music-making with the brilliant HK Phil musicians in the years to come.”

“The appointment of Tarmo Peltokoski as the new Music Director of our Orchestra marks a significant milestone,” added HK Phil’s CEO Benedikt Fohr. “He is a highly talented musician from the younger generation. Under his leadership, we wish to inspire a new generation of music lovers, and continue to enhance our artistic excellence and elevate our reputation in Hong Kong and beyond. The HK Phil is thrilled about the creative journey that lies ahead.”

“I would like to extend my warmest welcome to Tarmo,” commented HK Phil’s Concertmaster Jing Wang. “His debut concerts with the HK Phil last year were truly inspiring, and his talent was immediately apparent. He is a highly energetic conductor with a great passion for music. The orchestra and I look forward to many years of great music-making together in the upcoming seasons.”